Too Many Customers For A Startup

Nothing tests a founder’s sanity like having too many “very interested” customers. It’s like speed dating with homework.

A few days ago, I spoke with an early-stage founder whose product was attracting a lot of interest. On paper, it looked like a dream: inbound requests from consumer electronics, defence, industrial automation, and even a few overseas corporates.

In reality, it was a trap.

The team had five people, no sales function, and most of their time was devoted to developing their product. They didn’t have the bandwidth, budget or hours in the day to seriously follow up with everyone. They had to choose. And that choice would likely determine whether they ever get to their FOAK.

Founders with “multi-industry” products often treat this as an advantage: “If automotive doesn’t bite, maybe medical will. If medical is slow, maybe defence. There’s always another market.”

But dig even a little deeper, and this advantage quickly turns into a liability. You lose focus, your pipeline gets cluttered, and you end up chasing conversations instead of deals. So what do you do? How do you choose where to focus when everyone seems interested?

If I had to choose one guiding principle, it would be speed.

The faster you get to a sale, the faster you move to your FOAK. The faster you move to FOAK, the faster you build credibility, reduce technical risk, and get to real revenue.

People love referencing Amazon or OpenAI as excuses to “go slow” or “burn cash for years.” But these are statistical outliers with extraordinary (and frankly, situational) financing power. You are not Amazon, and I pray that you aren’t thinking of yourself as the next OpenAI (in terms of cash burn).

Every extra year without revenue tests your investors’ patience and increases your financing risk. The planning fallacy always catches up. If you have a choice of markets, pick the one where sales cycles, certification, procurement and contracting move fastest, even if the TAM looks smaller on paper.

Selling batteries for medical devices might get you cash flow in months. Selling the same chemistry into automotive could take 3 years to complete supplier qualification. Your bank account won’t wait that long.

I always advise founders to choose speed over market size. A small, fast market beats a big, slow one every time.

Curious about your experience: when you had to choose, did you go for the fastest path to revenue, or the biggest market?